Desirable(ish) residence for rent

By the beach, lots of outdoor space, no pesky neighbours...

 ... ok, maybe one.

Super tree house?

Work in progress on a huge rain tree in Shap Long.

If my wonky Cantonese is reliable, the workmen said they are building a treehouse.

I guess that's one solution to Hong Kong's rising home prices. Can't wait to see it!

Piece of heaven

There's one part of the Mui Wo-Pui O walk that we find absolutely magical. It's a bridge over a stream with the beach on one side anda water meadow filled with daisies on the other.

"Wouldn't it be lovely to build a house here?" I would often ask Buffalo Wilbur, who kept pointing out that the place was probably in the green belt and wouldn't be open to development.

On our last walk, however, we did find a house exactly on the spot where I said it'd be ideal to build one. It wasn't much of a house – the roof had caved in and it was surrounded by rusting gas canisters and rubbish everywhere.

But if you're prepared to look beyond that, you can see its potential. Lovely views, good fungshui, a private beach...

Pity we're not the only ones to spot its potential.

I do hope they develop it into something worthy of its setting and not another columbarium or something because that will really break my heart.

Property crunch

People have been asking me what's up with the property market in Mui Wo.

Why are the real-estate agent websites all not updated? Is there a dearth of places for sale in the area?

And why are the available properties so expensive? Is Mui Wo becoming an expat area, with expat prices?

Never let it be said I don't listen to the needs of my readers. I did take a walk around town to check and, yes, there does seem to be fewer photos up in the windows than there'd been months before.

What is happening? Gleaning from gossip from the locals and realtors here's a possible scenario:

• There are only a small number of homes in the area and the affordable ones (ie below HK$2 million) have already been snapped up.
• Both new and existing homeowners are banking on prices to rise further so they prefer to hold and rent out their units rather than sell – unless it's for a ridiculous sum of money.
• Going by the laws of demand and supply, this means sale prices are high but rents are still relatively low.

So people thinking of moving to Mui Wo should rent first and buy when the supply increases again, right?

Sort of. The problem is that rents are rising all over Hong Kong and that's pushing more people off the Island and into the New Territories.

Notice how crazy rents are in Lamma? Well, some Lammaites are decamping for Mui Wo and that is increasing the demand here too.

If you're thinking of buying in the area, the agents advise you take out a lease with an option to extend so your rents won't suddenly spike at the end of the year.

But let them know that you're looking and be prepared to act fast if something does come up. As you can see from the transaction figures, there are still affordable properties around.

Don't give up hope. Sooner or later, someone will put their home on the market. It just won't be us.

Mui Wo FAQs - Property

In our spare time, we like to walk around the villages pretending we're Warren Buffet and pick out distressed assets (ie houses) we would love to buy.

So far, we have not agreed on one we both like - thank goodness because we don't have the money anyway.

I always go for the most unloved houses, the ones property agents would call , with fake enthusiasm in their voices, "original condition, ripe for renovation."

Buffalo Wilbur, being the non-DIY person that he is, always goes for the ones in best condition, all glass and aluminum, without a rust stain in sight.

It's a wonder we managed to agree long enough to plonk our money on our present place.

I often get people asking me, when they find out we live in Mui Wo, what are their options if they want to move there.

Renting is not a problem: If you don't like it, you can move when the year's up. But buying is a commitment, so more careful thought needs to be put into it.

Well, here's a short FAQ for potential buyers in Mui Wo:

What kind of property can I buy in Mui Wo?
"Normal" flats are the kind you see in the town itself. They're all housed in buildings not more then five stories high (there's a height restriction in town) and range from 200 to 800 sq ft. You can get a 70-90% mortgage on them, just like any other flat in Hong Kong. Check out the HKMC website for more info on 90% mortgages.
Draw: They're close to all the amenities. Drawbacks: Concrete everywhere (a friend once asked me: "What's the point of living so far out in Lantau if you're still surrounded by concrete?"), small spaces, close proximity to your neighbours.

Village houses are three stories high and up to 2,100 sq ft in total. They're usually divided into three flats (500-700 sq ft), with the ground floor having exclusive use of the garden and the second floor having private access to the roof. Everyone aspires to buy one but, be warned, though they look cheaper than the ones in town, you will need loads of cash for the downpayment (between 30 and 50% of the price). The big banks like HSBC and Hang Seng are only slowly getting used to the idea of giving mortgages for village houses and even the smaller ones like Wing Lung and Wing Hang may only give you a 50% mortgage.
Draw: Fresh air and wonderful views. More space for less cash. Drawback: Upkeep of the building is at the owners' expense so you better hope you get along well with your neighbours. And have you seen the snakes in Blogger 8's blog?

Buyer beware
Does the building have a lift? If not, it may be considered a "tong lau" (or old building) and not come under the same mortgage terms as a normal flat. We considered Amy Court, only to be told by the banks that that was considered a village house.

Is the vendor legally allowed to sell his house? There are such things as licensed houses, in which only the licensee is allowed to live there. You may be handing over the money and stand the risk of having the whole thing taken away from you. Some people have done a deal with the licensee (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) without any problems but we don't have that kind of risk appetite.

Lantau Link has a good summary of the places available.

Transaction prices?
Ricacorp and Centaline have latest Land Registry transaction records for the normal flats in town. For village houses, I'm afraid you have to ask the real estate agents or pop into Tom's Cafe for the latest gossip.

Do I need a mortgage broker?
Yes, if you need someone to take you through the intricacies of mortgage application in Hong Kong. No, if you are prepared to do some legwork. We found the ones recommended by our agent kept steering us towards a particular bank and were clueless (or pretended to be) about the rates for others. And they couldn't get us more favourable rates than the ones we were offered just by walking into the banks and talking to their officers direct.

Procedure?
It's amazing how fast buying property can be in Hong Kong. The whole procedure, from provisional contract to completion, takes only six to eight weeks.

Here's the breakdown:

1. Check valuation. Banks will not lend above valuation so you may have to fork out the difference.
2. Get bank to give you in principle approval. This will save you loads of sleepless nights worrying if you have to forego your deposit if you can't get the mortgage.
3. Make offer. Wait for vendor to hum and haw and claim he prefers to rent out/sell to relative/sell his kid than take up offer. Be strong and you will prevail. This takes the longest time.
4. Get lawyer. Sign a provisional/preliminary agreement for sale and purchase. Hand over 5-10% of price as deposit. Get your own lawyer, don't trust the "standard" S&P the agents will thrust on you. We managed to get our lawyer to put in a clause that all monies will be refunded if HKMC doesn't approve our application for mortgage insurance.
5. Go to bank with provisional S&P to arrange mortgage. This will take anything from a fortnight to two months. Don't forget that if you back out now (eg can't get mortgage), you forfeit the 5-10%. That is why you need your own lawyer to look after your interests.
   
6. In the meantime, your lawyer will ask you to inspect the property to make sure it is vacant possession/with tenant according to agreement.
7. Lawyer will call you when bank has approved mortgage. Sign formal S&P, hand over the remaining 90-95%. Get the keys.
   

Hidden costs?
Don't think so. The whole process is quite transparent: 1% commission for estate agent, stamp duties according to price, lawyer's fees... There have been whispers of under-the-counter transactions for desirable flats but we never encountered any such problems.

Click on text for more on:
Amenities
Mui Wo real estate agents

Property porn

We first saw this cluster of houses in Shap Long about three years ago on our usual Mui O-Pui O walk and fell in love with them.

Despite the financial crisis then, there was no way we could afford them. And of course, there is absolutely no way we can afford one now.

I saw a listing for what looks like a corner house in luxury realtor Sotheby's website recently: HK$12 million.

Definitely suck-on-your-teeth prices for Lantau but, considering the prices in Midlevels these days, quite reasonable for something like this.

For us, though, the only way we would be able to view this is by perve-ing the realtor photos.

Tai Tei Tong

Husband-and-wife team Edwin and Alice certainly know a lot about Mui Wo property. Alice sells property and Edwin renovates them. So with all that insider knowledge on the best and worst bits of Mui Wo, where do they choose to live?

Tai Tei Tong.

I can see why. The village is like a little gated community, with a big square where children and pets can play without their parents worrying about traffic. It also has a cute arch heralding the entrance to the village.

It is close to the beach and right next to the only school in the area (at the moment), the Mui Wo School. There is a nice sense of community about the place too.

The more we see of Mui Wo on our after-lunch strolls, the more we like it.

More village exploring soon.

Secret agent files

Tourists and day trippers coming straight from the ferry usually have a routine. They walk out, trip over fallen bicycles in the pier, go "wah" at the beach and mountains and then head for the real estate agents to check out property prices. Yes, prices may have more than doubled in five years, according to the SCMP, but you can still get a fairly decent flat for under HK$2 million.

When we first announced we were moving to Mui Wo a year back, people asked: "Where's that?" (Partly because they probably couldn't understand our wonky pronunciation). Now, they want to know: "So how do we go around buying a place there?" The town is coming up and, this being Hong Kong, a lot of people want a piece of the action.

There are four estate agents here, all within a stone's throw of each other. Everyone in town told us that, Mui Wo being such a small place, the agents would all be selling the same flats. But we checked all of them out all the same. And this is what we found:

Lantau Home Solutions (www.homesolutions.hk) is the most high end of the lot. Jennifer, the owner, is extremely knowledgeable and she is the only one who quotes in nett square feet rather than gross, as almost all property agents in Hong Kong are wont to. The downside is that, if you're looking for something below HK$2 million, they don't have many listings. They deal mainly with single village house sales.

Findley Leung (www.findleyleung.com.hk) is possibly the biggest of the mass market agents. It has listings from HK$500,000 studios all the way to HK$12 million houses. Alice is friendly and will try and get you the best price. She will even do things like help you talk to potential neighbours so you can get a feel of the area. The trick, however, is finding her as she handles the sales for places like Tung Chung too so she's hardly ever in office.

Easy Reach (www.easyreach.com.hk) has some of the lowest quoted prices in town. But its website is not updated frequently and, when we emailed our enquiry, Helen took a few days to answer the email. Alice and Jennifer responded within the day with a list of flats to look at so we went with the more enthusiastic agents.

Proper Trip (www.propertrip.com.hk) has a most unprepossessing office but it actually manages a lot of the developments in Mui Wo. Whenever we walked in, there were no agents around so we tried emailing but no one answered. So we just gave up. Pity really, as it had the biggest variety of real-estate on the market.

Mui Wo in the news

Article from Time Out June 2009:

Although developers have been moving in fast on Lantau Island ever since the opening of Hong Kong International Airport in 1998, Mui Wo, on its eastern shore, is holding on tenaciously to its roots as a country village. Here, a piece of land also means peace of mind, with its laidback, serene way of life.

The vibe

If you come to Mui Wo on a weekday, it strikes you that there is something not quite right about the place. You can’t put your finger on it; that is, until a dog’s distant bark shatters the silence. And then you realise – this place is unnervingly quiet for Hong Kong. Remarkably, village life has managed to prevail here for over 700 years, through its days as a silver mine (the area is still known as Silvermine Bay), to its present role as gateway to South Lantau. Today, Mui Wo’s residents still refer to it endearingly as the “countryside”. Indeed, it is this precise quality that has saved it from succumbing to the development befallen north Lantau, since Mui Wo is surrounded by country park.

Property

By far the best part of settling in this area is the price tag. The psychological barrier people have against moving away from Hong Kong Island means despite commute time from Mui Wo to Central being the same as from Stanley or Repulse Bay, sea views, roof terraces, and gardens come at a fraction of the cost. The further you go from the ferry terminal, the cheaper it gets per square foot. Housing clustered around Mui Wo centre thus tends to be smaller, consisting mainly of generic six-storey apartment blocks for commuters wanting to maximise their lie-ins. Some bigger, plusher complexes line Ngan Kwong Wan Road, on the walk up to Silvermine Beach. The real village experience, however, begins after a ten-minute walk inland. Here, the few remaining cars fade away (access is by bicycle only) and the buildings turn into three-storey detached houses. Although some are rented as one unit, the floors are usually divided into three separate apartments, making village lifestyle more affordable. The only possible drawback is not being able to drive to your door (public car parks are free if you don’t mind leaving your car in town). If you want both the big villa and the car, you’ll need to go to Pui O, a seven-minute drive away (a very precise seven minutes since there is never any traffic).

Dine

Considering Mui Wo’s small population size, food options are surprisingly abundant. This is largely in thanks to the tourists that filter through the town on weekends. For a quality Italian roast and a breakfast that’s greasy in all the right ways, there’s Caffe Paradiso (Shop 8 Mui Wo Centre, 3 Ngan Wan Rd, 2984 0498), more affectionately known by locals as Tom’s Café. The Pizzeria (Grandview Mansion, 11C Mui Wo Ferry Pier Rd, 2984 8933) and the dinner buffet at Silvermine Hotel (Silvermine Beach, 2984 8295) also serve up Western fare in the evenings. However, a seaside town is not really complete without a spattering of seafood restaurants. Snag a waterfront seat at one of the many eateries in Mui Wo Cooked Food Market by the ferry pier, open from 6am till midnight, and order up a storm.

Drink

You can always trust that in any enclave in the world that boasts more than three Brits, a decent watering hole is sure to exist. The most popular joint for tourists and locals alike is the China Bear (Mui Wo Centre, 3 Ngan Wan Rd, 2984 972), which has a quiz night on the last Thursday of every month. Further down the beach lies the China Beach Club (18 Tung Wan Rd, Silvermine Beach, 2983 8931), while a little further away, in Pui O, is JK Club (20D Lo Wai Village, 2984 8366), which is more a pub than a club, despite its leading name. For a slightly different ambiance of the Mediterranean variety, enjoy a drink at Bahce (Shop 19, Mui Wo Centre, 3 Ngan Wan Rd, 2984 0222) a Turkish restaurant that becomes a bar at night.

Entertain

Less than a Frisbee throw away from the ferry terminal lies Silvermine Beach. Together with Pui O Beach (located at Pui O Kau Tsuen), it ensures the locals have year-round access to the sandy shores. Further afield, and about a 45-minute walk away from the town centre, is the picturesque Silvermine Waterfall (follow the signs from Mui Wo town), which is best visited after a spell of heavy rain. Avid hikers can relish in the fact that Mui Wo is also the beginning of the 70km long Lantau Trail that snakes around the south of the island. Of course, if you’re really stuck for something to do – there’s always Disneyland (www.hongkongdisneyland.com), accessible by bus via Tung Chung.

Shop

Apart from the obligatory Wellcome and Park’n’Shop, there are just a handful of stores in Mui Wo, but that’s a good thing. With shops come people, and that would most likely negate the reason you moved here in the first place. As everyone cycles in these parts, the first stop for any new resident has to be the town’s leading bike store, the aptly named Bicycle Shop (Shop B, Silver Centre, 2984 2002). People also tend to be fairly home proud, so there is no shortage of furniture stores. Add a touch of the orient to your décor at Red Hall Chinese Antiques (Silver Pearl Mansion, 2988 1368). For some beach lit or to start a home library with all that new space, The Bookshop (Shop E, Silver Centre, 2984 9371) sells vintage and second hand books as well as new releases.

Transport

Mui Wo is a difficult area to get to by car (you’ll require a special permit to drive on Lantau regardless), but easily accessible by ferry from Central Pier 6. With the journey only 30 minutes long, the lack of alternative methods of transportation don’t seem so troublesome; at least, not before the last ferry departs Central at 11:30pm every night. Most residents commute this way, although there is an alternative path to the city via Tung Chung on the 3M or 13S buses of the New Lantao Bus Company, which both cost $12. A taxi from Tung Chung to Mui Wo will be roughly $260.

Resident report

Mui Wo is where the reluctant Hongkonger resides. In the last two decades, it has become home to retirees and expats burnt out from city life. Residents tend to belong in the vein that “city life wasn’t really for them”. It seems this is where the metropolis’ self-professed misfits have gathered; and they look more tanned and less tense for it. Judging by the sea of pedal power next to the ferry terminal, most residents still commute to work in Central, but home is where the heart is. Many of the businesses in Mui Wo are expat owned, and the nearby international kindergarten and primary school reflects the diverse demographic of the area.

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We have been looking at affordable places to buy in Hong Kong ever since we came to the SAR in 2007. I was happy with Lamma or Mui Wo. Buffalo Wilbur (ie hubby) was worried that cheap may not necessarily translate to charming. "There is a reason they are so cheap," he quite reasonably pointed out.

Then we spotted the above article in Time Out. Aha!

Ever since then, we have been noticing many articles talking about how Mui Wo is the next up and coming place. Today's SCMP has something on the yuppification of the town and how prices have more than doubled in the past five years. I feel vindicated.